MBB: Conference of New England

[goenc]

I cannot believe that Gordon beat EC, ENC beat Nichols, and that Salve spanked Curry all in the same nights. all three of those games are crazy to me.

In the last 4 years I dont think that anyone has gone on a 20-3 run against Endicott. Thats a huge run. That run alone, could be a defining moment in both teams season.

I still think that the chance for the playoffs are very slim for the Crusaders. We'll see!!!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Rumor has it Bartelle will be back tonight.  I'm still not sure how that can happen, but I've learned not to question the "acadmeic" processes at Curry; you might get your thumbs broken if you get too close.


Tonight's Games:

NC @ RWU
SRU @ ENC
GC @ AMC
CC @ WIT
NEC @ EC

[truth-b-told]

Good Morning,
I have read that the north seems stronger than the south, so what do you think of the matchups for the post season? Or am I a little premature with this request.

Also, I am not a GC fan (at all) but I did see them play recently and they get after it, and when the three's start raining...

Just giving a little props and I hear there fans can challege Duke's fans in staying attentive and involved in the game.
Home Court Advantage...

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I have never thought of Gordon as the best home court.  It is certainly an advantage to them playing at home, but I wouldn't call them the best home court fans.  They might be much improved this year, with the success of the team, but it takes some time to develop that sort of reputation and ability.  Things can change though and it would be nice to see some new "6th man" arising.

ENC used to be an awful place to play until the students stopped showing up to games.  CSC has also had better fans, but they still create a pretty tough atmosphere to play in.  The EC fans have a rep of being just plain rude, not my style of fans, but it has its purpose.  The only problem for them is that the EC gym feels so large, its hard to create an impossing presence or even fill the whole thing up.  Curry can be scary for any opposing player or fan to enter.

I guess none of the schools have the same kind of presence I remember four or five years ago.  I guess that was all circular logic for me to come back and say, I guess GC has as much chance as anyone of being the best fans.  (Although its not either of the RI schools, have those kids don't seem to care who wins those games).

[akirk]

As far as home court advantage goes...EC and CSC would be the top two in the league.  I been to a number of the gyms but EC always has a large amount of fans and when they get going it is hard to hear anything.  CSC on the other hand has the home court advantage due to the gym not because of the fans.  Their gym is horrendous.  The gym that gets the worst gym possible award has to go the air plane shack that Anna Maria calls their home.  Curry has a tough old gym but they there really isn't enough room to have a lot of fans present.

I really do not like the schools that only have one side for fans to sit on.  I think it takes away from the atmosphere of home vs. away.

[goenc]

I agree with that completely. I'll tell you that I absolutely hated to play at CSC (the floor, the fans), loved to play at Curry (such a small gym), but playing at home with a packed crowd was the best.

[24/7/365]

The only reason I give GC the nod for "6th man" is because they cheer as one entity.  It is not a sporadic display, with one group standing, another group losing their voice and another group talking about their weekend.  Rather all the fans stand in unison and cheer simultaneously.

Yes EC and CSC have difficult gyms to play in.  But that is not because their fans are this fierce cheering body.  Their fans, especially on the EC side, tend to be a little liquored up, and are highly inappropriate.  EC fans cheer in certain sections, and sling profanity as if it's the norm in their every day lives, which it probably is.

CSC fans are no better.  They remind me of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan who sits behind home plate and uses insults as a way to get into players heads, and get on TV.  It's more or less a cheap way of trying to "help" your team win.  The best part though is they have absolutely no cheering section at all.  The students are continually sitting and are only forced to respond to an offensive score by their team, and that's it.  It's the actual gym itself that is the deciding factor in that place being difficult.

Unfortunately ENC is atrocious, and their fan presence has dwindled because of that.  It was hands down the worst place to play, especially if you were GC.  But now it probably acts as a nuetral court.

CC is like AMC because the gyms are so old and out dated.  I think both gyms just recently updated their rims from peach-baskets to metal.  Maybe they'll get break-away rims sometime this decade.

Yes GC fans have only been coming on strong for 2 years or so, but with a team like this, why wouldn't you want to cheer?

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Yeah Chewning, I'm sure you long for the days of the coneman.  When was the last time you were back at ENC for a game?  It's just awful for anyone who's seen an ENC-GC game back when it meant something.  Although I guess, nothing compares to the contests at the Old Garden in the 70's.  That was NE small school basketball at its finest.

Let's just say that currently there are some venues that teams hate to go to and others that just seem downright pathetic.  It's not hard to have confidence when its obvsious the other team's fans expect them to lose every time out.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Tonight's Games:

NC @ RWU
SRU @ ENC
GC @ AMC
CC @ WIT
NEC @ EC

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The key game tonight is the CC at Wentworth.  If Bartelle really is back tonight, Curry might be ok, but if not, Wentworth needs a win over a South team pretty badly right now.  This would be a big, big win for them if they could pull it off.

[truth-b-told]

Do not know the details, but CC wins over WIT. Bartelle went for 20 (at least) and Lamb (even hurt) contributed. WIT showed they can play but their defense is suspect at the wrong times. Do not know any stats but it became close at the end, CC made their free throws and closed the deal.

[24/7/365]

G-O-R-D-O-N... GORDON GORDON GORDON!!!

GC rah-olled on AMC tonight 90-51.  This wasn't even fair.  GC limited AMC to 13 1st half points.  This marks the 2nd time in 4 games that GC has held an opponent to 13 points in a half.  I don't have player stats, but no GC starter played more than 20 minutes.  Apparently AMC was in a zone the failed to play the perimeter and payed dearly for it.  I guess they didn't get the memo that GC thrives from the arc.

Not what you would call a tune-up game for Saturday.  But atleast it gets them back into the traveling mode again.

[24/7/365]

Good to see Bartelle has made his triumphant return for CC.  This makes CC that much better and hopefully raises them to the level we all thought they would be at this season.  They now have the potential to be some serious bracket busters for the big 3 in the North.

While I'm not sure CC can come into GC and play 40 minutes with GC and their "6th man," they have to still be a big concern.  They are no longer a bottom feeder.  Bartelle has some missed time he needs to make up for.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

CC 85 WIT 74.  Bartelle had 24, Mohrin had 10, Marcus Jones had 14, Lamarre had 10 rebounds.  Lamb didn't start (injury?) but he got 21 points off the bench.  For WIT, Doyle had 18, Hall had 15, Gaine and PB had 11 each.  Curry played very well in Bartelle's return.  They shot FTs well and rebounded well.  I'm not sure if its a good sign that they barely won even shooting 50%.  WIT's defense isn't that great, so this might not be the best showing to annoint Curry as a contender.  They will need to play better before I buy into their chance at a run.  I won't count them out, but they need to show me something.

EC 66 NEC 58.  This game was too close for EC to be happy.  They need to round back into form fast.  Burton had 17 off the bench and Marinkovic had 15 in the absence of Onyechi to stop him.  George only played 14 minutes, much less than the rest of the starters.  We need the EC guys to fill us in on what I can only assume to be an injury.  For NEC, Montrod had 15, Sylvia had 11, and Tremble had 10.  EC was up 19 at the half, but NEC battled back hard.  I'm not sure how much of this was EC letting up and how much it was NEC earning it.  Still it was a win, but costly if George is indeed injured.

GC 90 AMC 51.  This was just awful.  GC has established dominance right now.  They should be the favorite this weekend in New London, although that will be one heck of a game.  Costatino had 17 off the bench for AMC.  Kauffman put in 18 in 20 minutes for Gordon; Deluca had 12.  AMC shot 4-7 from three, but obviously that wasn't much of a concern for GC.  11 GC players played between ten and twenty minutes.  Everybody seemed to get involved.  They just hit their shots.  Good win, even if its just AMC.

NC 68 RWU 60.  No stats or boxscore yet.

ENC 55 SRU 68.  Salve won the rebound battle 45-21, with 24 offensive boards.  No one can overcome that sort of deficit.  Seaberg had 11 for ENC, Jasmin and Jean-Noel had 10 each.  There is no box score, so I don't have any more info.  I'm sure Grendal did quite well for himself on the boards.  It seems Salve attacked the ENC post, which proved to be vulnerable.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ok, we made it to the big weekend:

AMC hosts Thomas
EC @ NC
NEC @ CC
ENC @ RWU
SRU @ WIT
GC @ CSC


Curry and NEC both need this game tomorrow and of course, tomorrow's game is also a must win for both CSC and GC.